Labor tit-for-tat puts Mirabella in its sights

Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella in Parliament ... allegedly failed to make an accurate declaration on her register of Members of Interests
Photo: Josh Robenstone

by
James Massola | Gemma Daley

Liberal MP
Sophie Mirabella
made a personal statement to federal Parliament about the way she declared her interests in a former lover’s estate after Labor revealed she was the second Coalition MP in their sights.

Government strategists yesterday revealed to The Australian Financial Review they were poised to refer Ms Mirabella to Parliament’s privileges committee in an escalation of the tit-for-tat war with the opposition over parliamentary standards.

The Coalition yesterday referred the Member for Dobell,
Craig Thomson
, to the same committee for misleading Parliament.

Ms Mirabella has been locked in a bitter dispute with the children of her former partner, Colin Howard QC, over his estate, of which she is the executor and main beneficiary.

“The attempt to suggest some sort of moral equivalent with the Labor scandal will attract the scorn it deserves," Ms Mirabella said.

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She pointed to the rules being “silent" on when the 28-day rule on disclosure triggers in some cases.

“If there has been an inadvertent omission, it was not a deliberate or knowing omission."

Labor signalled it would target Ms Mirabella yesterday, a day after Leader of the House
Anthony Albanese
referred Liberal backbencher
Craig Kelly
to the committee over his pecuniary interests declaration.

Mr Albanese told Parliament on Monday that Mr Kelly did not adequately disclose his financial interests, and that he had failed to disclose he had worked as a solicitor since entering Parliament.

Mr Kelly rejected the allegations raised by Labor, saying he was not a solicitor.

There is a growing consensus in government ranks it should take on the Coalition over standards.

The referrals of Coalition MPs are in response to the opposition’s decision to refer embattled MP Craig Thomson to the privileges committee on Monday for failing to declare that the NSW branch of the ALP was paying his legal fees.

Mr Thomson on Monday warned that “at least half a dozen MPs" could be facing either civil or criminal charges, and that “the rule of law under any future Coalition government would be a discretionary concept, to be readily put aside if it served their base political objectives to do so".

Mr Albanese told the Labor caucus yesterday that the Coalition was being hypocritical over parliamentary standards and wanted different rules for Labor and Coalition MPs.

Mr Albanese also told colleagues that the government would prefer to focus on its budget, rather than parliamentary standards, but it was prepared for a fight.

“If the opposition insists on raising these things then of course the government will respond,’’ he said.